Slipper display package



Nov. 7, 1967 s. SPINKS T AL 3,351,184

SLIPPER DI SPLAY PACKAGE Filed Aug. 11, 1965 INVENTORS SAM SPINKS BY FRANK c. OWENBY United States Patent ()fiice 3,351,184 Patented Nov. 7, 1967 3,351,184 SLIPPER DISPLAY PACKAGE Sam Spinks, Dallas, and Frank C. Owenby, Marietta, Ga., assignors to Legion Manufacturing C0,, Dallas, Ga., a partnership Filed Aug. 11, 1965, Ser. No. 478,809 14 Claims. (Cl. 206-46) The present invention relates to a novel package and retainer for slippers and shoes, and more particularly to a package and retainer for displaying flexible, soft and collapsible lounging slippers.

Lounging slippers and shoes are usually constructed of woven and knitted fabrics or soft pliable material such as I plastics and the like, and these slippers are conventionally packaged in a small, space-saving manner thus precluding any visual study by a potential customer unless the slipper is removed from its package and expanded fully. Since slipper manufacturers have found it desirable to display fully these articles for the convenience and consideration of potential consumers, and to avoid the shorcomings of conventional packages, it has been found to be desirable to design a display package that will expose the slippers in a fully expanded or stretched condition thus eliminating the distortions of slipper fabric designs occurring when the paired slippers are tightly folded, bound and packaged and creating a tidy appearance which will consequently encourage sales.

There have been numerous attempts to design a slipper package that will fully expose a pair of displayed slippers, the majority of these attempts being directed at placing a pair of slippers in an end-to-end, bottom-to-bottom, or top-to-top relationship which offer decided advantages over compressed tightly-packaged units, but these efforts still result in the disadvantage of precluding customers from visualizing a pair of slippers positioned similarly to the manner in which they will be used by a wearer.

A further difficulty in conventionally used methods of packaging slippers for display is that usually a packaging machine or apparatus is necessary in order to insert a tightly compressed slipper pair into its display container thus creating production expenses directly proportional with the variations in packaging used.

Accordingly, it is a principal object of this invention to provide a novel apparatus for packaging and displaying a pair of flexible slippers so that by being stretched and fully expanded on a retaining form, the pair presents an attractive appearance on a counter, in a window or showcase of a shop.

It is a further object of this invention to package flexible slippers in such a way that their size corresponds approximately to the size to which the potential consumer is accustomed to wearing.

Another object of this invention is to provide a convenient and economical method of packaging flexible slippers or shoes in an attractive manner which increases their salability and, at the same time, makes the slippers more convenient to handle.

Still a further object of the instant invention is to provide the potential consumer with slipper fabric exposure which will allow the consumer to test the quality of the slipper material.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a novel display package for flexible slippers that will retain the slipper pair in a side-by-side substantially coplanar relationship to closely simulate the position and orientation of the slippers when used by a consumer.

Yet still another object of this invention is to provide a novel display package for slippers that can be readily adjustable to accommodate fully heeled or heelless slippers and maintain them in a paired side-by-side relationship.

Yet still another object of this invention is to provide a novel slipper display retainer which is comprised of a single piece of stiff, sheet material selectively shaped to form substantially symmetrical shoe-engaging panels.

These and other objects of the present invention will become apparent from the consideration of the accompanying drawings constituting a part hereof in which like characters of reference designate like parts and in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of the present invention illustrating a pair of heelless slippers retained in side-by-side relationship by a selectively cut and folded display insert;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of an unfolded piece of sheet material shaped into a pair of substantially symmetrical shoe-engaging panels, these sheet-formed panels constituting a part of the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of a folded piece of the sheet material shown in FIG. 2 which constitutes a part of the first embodiment of the present invention shown perspectively in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a second alternative embodiment of a paired slipper display package illustrating the retention of a pair of fully heeled slippers by a selectively cut and folded insert member in a side-by-side relationship;

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of an unfolded piece of sheet material having a pair of substantially symmetrical shoeengaging panels constituting a part of the second alterna tive embodiment of the present invention shown perspectively in FIG. 4; and

FIG. 6 is a side elevational view of a folded piece of the sheet material shown in FIG. 5 constituting a part of the second alternative embodiment of the present invention.

Referring now to the drawings and particularly to FIG. 1, there is shown a first embodiment of a display package for a pair of shoes or slippers 10, the package in its entirety being generally designated 12, which is formed of a stiff, foldable piece of sheet material generally designated 14, this material being cut to form generally symmetrical sho'e-engaging forms, panels or portions 16. Each of the forms 16 has a main shoe-engaging panel 18 and a side panel 20 'folda'bly integral with the main panel 18. Side panel 20 is folded downwardly from the main panel so that it is substantially perpendicular to the plane occupied by the symmetrical forms 16, and this folda-ble portion thus provides the shoe insert with sufficient thickness to stretch and expose and superimposed fabric constituting the forward foot portion 22 of a slipper 24.

Panels 18 are separated by a longitudinal diverging slot 26 which has the effect of isolating the individual panels and accommodating the side 28 of a form carried shoe 24 therein. The tapered forward edge 30 of slot 26 simulates the natural taper of a human foot and will therefore snugly engage the interior contour of a slipper 24 covering a panel 16.

The side. panels 20 have been angularly cut to provide a forward diminishing foot line 33 which also assists in accommodating the natural contour of a foot and corresponding interior of a slipper 24. Additionally, notches or indentations 31 have been made in the piece of sheet material 14 substantially along fold lines 32. to allow the insert to taper to a greater degree so as to snugly nest within the toe portion 34 of an insert-carried shoe, and this feature provides additional assurances that a carried slipper 24 will not be displaced from the assembled insert 36 since the notches 31 allow the folded piece of sheet material 14 to conform to and frictionally engage the interior of the shoe.

A flap member 38 is foldably integral with the rear portions 40 of the symmetrical panels or forms 16 and is folded downwardly until it is substantially perpendicular to the plane of the panels 16 so that it will then be cooperatively and sealably engaged with folded end portions 42 of side panels 20.

In the folded and assembled position, insert 36 resembles and simulates a three-dimensional Wedge and has sufficient flexibility because of tapering edge 30 and notched indentations 31 to be pushed firmly into the front portion of a receiving shoe and sufiicient rigidity due to the nature of the material used so as to stretch and exp se the received paired shoes 10 fully for display without being crushed. A fully assembled display package 12 is illustrated in FIG. 1 and the assembled insert 36 is received by a pair of soft, flexible heelless slippers 10, thus stretching the fabric in the foot portion 22 of those slippers to expose in an undistorted manner any design or configuration that is a part of or adhered to that fabric.

It has been found desirable to clip the front portion of each panel 16 square across the toe 44 in the manner illustrated in FIG. 2 so as to avoid the extrusion of the insert material forming those panels through the open ends 46 of paired slippers 10 should those particular styles be mounted and packaged for display.

When a pair of fully-heeled slippers 48 are to be mounted for display on a cut and folded insert as is illustrated in FIG. 4, heel-engaging ridges are pre-cut from the original sheet material 52 to snugly contact the interior of the heel 54 of a mounted slipper 56. Additional variations are found desirable when slippers having full heels and high sides 58 are to be mounted, and foldable side panels foldably integral with substantially symmetrical forms 60 are usually tapered arcuately along the shoe-engaging edge 62 to elevate the plane of the forms or panels 60 so that they will be substantially even with the tops 64 of the shoes to be mounted. Additionally, since casual shoes are usually acutely tapered to accommodate a small and pointed toe area '66, a shorter and more sharply longitudinal diverging notch 68 has been found desirable.

When a pair of heelless or fully heeled slippers are mounted on a pre-cut, folded and assembled insert 36, the rear elevated portion 72 of the assembled insert shown in FIG. 1 acts as a means to retain the stretched and exposed shoes on the insert against displacement since the wedge configuration of the insert 36 frictionally holds the foot-engaging bands 74 of the slipper pair 10. It is also contemplated that a fully assembled insert 36 such as that described in FIG. 1 may be used for fully heeled shoes by merely notching (not shown) the flap member 38 intermediate its length to accommodate the side edge 28 of the retained slipper. The downwardly extending flap member 38 would then engage the heel along the interior'surface in a manner that would quite adequately maintain the received slippers on the insert for display.

Heel-engaging ridges 50 also act as shoe-retaining members in that the fully stretched and exposed slipper mounted for display is prevented from forward movement and separation from the insert by the shoe retention effect of these heel-engaging ridges.

These insert configurations may be particularly modified to accommodate a distinctive shoe styling by making minor changes in the placement of foldable line 32 or shoe-engaging edges 62, and these changes can be made without departing from the basic concept of a slipper display package for stretching and maintaining a pair of slippers in a side-by-side relationship.

The substantially symmetrical panels or forms 16 and 60 of the two above-described embodiments are joined together and maintained in a laterally-spaced side-by-side relationship by means of a connecting band (76 in FIG. 2 and 78 in FIG. or an integrally retained portion of the piece of sheet material 14 and 52. It is contemplated that these panel or form-connecting means 76 and 78 can be altered and enlarged both longitudinally and transversely to selectively position a pair of slippers in a precisely desired spaced-apart relation.

Obviously, many modifications and variations may be made in the construction and arrangements of the substantially symmetrical panels or forms as well as the side panels and shoe-retaining means as Well as the other phases of the present inventive concept in the light of the above teachings without departing from the real spirit and purpose of this invention. Such modifications of parts and alternatives as Well as the use of mechanical equivalents to those herein illustrated and described are reasonably included and modifications are contemplated.

What is claimed is:

1. In combination, a pair of shoes and an insert therefor for displaying said shoes in side by side relationship comprising: a single piece of stiff, sheet material having a pair of laterally spaced substantially symmetrical shoeengaging panels, said material piece having a longitudinal diverging slot partially isolating said panels; each of said shoes having a front foot-engaging portion and being cooperatively received by one of said shoe-engaging panels with the front portion of each of said shoes slidably extending within said slot to stretch said shoe and assist in retaining said shoe in a stretched position for display.

2. A display package combination, of a pair of shoes and an insert therefor according to claim 1, each of said panels having a single longitudinal fold line of length equal to said panel and substantially parallel to said slot, each of said panels being foldable about said fold line to expand and display said received shoes in a side-by-side relationship.

3. A display package combination of a pair of shoes and an insert therefor according to claim 2, said material piece having a flap member foldably integral along a transverse edge of said piece, said flap member being foldably operative with said foldable panels to strengthen said folded panels and maintain each of said received shoes securely thereon.

4. A display package combination of a pair of shoes and an insert therefor according to claim 2, each of said panels having a protruding heel-engaging ridge to engage the heel portion of each of said shoes and retain said shoes on said folded panels.

5. A display package for a pair of shoes comprising: a pair of forms integrally formed of a single sheet of stiif, folda'ble material, each of said forms comprising a main shoe-engaging panel, a side panel foldably integral with said main panel, and heel-engaging means extending from said main panel; means for maintaining said forms in a side-by-side relationship; and a pair of shoes stretchably receiving said pair of forms With said main panel and heel-engaging means being operative to hold the shoes in stretched condition and said side panel being foldably cooperative with said main panel and heel-engaging means to elevate said forms within said shoes and maintain said shoes in a fully exposed side-by-side relationship for display.

6. A display package for a pair of shoes comprising: a pair of forms formed of a single sheet of stiff, foldable material, each of said forms comprising a main shoeengaging panel, a side panel foldably integral with said main panel and extending downwardly from and substantially perpendicular to said main panel, and shoe-retaining means carried by said main panel, said form being integrally connected and held in a fixed side-by-side relationship; and -a pair of shoes cooperatively received by said pair of forms, said main panels and side panels being operative to stretch said shoes and said retaining means cooperating with said panels to maintain said shoes on said forms in a fully exposed side-by-side relationship for display.

8. A display package according to claim 6, said shoeretaining means consisting of a heel-engaging ridge coplanar with said main panel which Will positively contact said shoe received by said form.

9. A display package for a pair of shoes comprising: a pair of forms formed of foldable sheet material, each of said forms comprising a main shoe-engaging panel, a side panel foldably integral with said main panel, and shoe-retaining means carried by said main panel; connecting means for joining and maintaining said form in a side-by-side relationship; and a pair of shoes cooperatively received by said pair of forms, said main panel and side panels of each of said forms being operative to stretch and expose said received shoe and said shoe-retaining means cooperating with said panels to maintain said shoe on said form for display.

10. A paired slipper package comprising: a pair of mating slippers having sole and foot covering portions positioned in side-by-side relation with the soles in substantially the same plane, and a paired slipper-retaining means having a pair of spaced-apart foot covering portion inserts for releasably clamping and retaining said slippers in side-by-side relation.

11. A paired slipper package comprising: a pair of mating slippers having sole and foot covering portions; an inte ral disposable card-board slipper retaining and clamping means for releasably supporting said slippers in sideby-side relation, said means having a pair of forwardly extending tongues laterally spaced from each other for slidable entry into the foot covering portions of said slippers.

12. A paired slipper package comprising mating slippers each having slipper soles positioned in side-by-side relationship in substantially the same plane and a diposable integral inert having integrally formed thereon a pair of laterally spaced slipper engaging portions for releasably retaining said paired slippers in side-by-side relationsnip.

13. A container for a pair of shoes comprising: a single piece of sheet material having a longitudinal diverging slot intermediate said piece and a pair of substantially symmetric-a1 laterally spaced-apart portions on opposite sides of said slot, said symmetrical portion having a body panel adjacent said slot, a side panel foldably integral with said body panel and folded to extend downwardly from and substantially perpendicular to said body panel; and means for securing and exposing a pair of shoes placed on said symmetrical portions for display, said means consisting of a heel-engaging ridge coplanar with said main panel which will positively contact the rear internal heel portion of the shoe received by said portion.

14. For use in combination with a pair of shoes, a container according to claim 13, said means including a flap foldably integral with said body panels and positioned to extend downwardly from and substantially perpendicular to said body panels and cooperatively mate with said panels and wedge said portions within the displayed shoes.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 926,041 6/1909 Woodbury 206-46 1,598,395 8/1926 Safir 20646 1,641,552 9/1927 Safir 2067 2,263,353 11/1941 Eidam 22962 X 2,973,128 2/1961 Leone 229l5 3,058,644 10/1962 Z-astrow 22915 THERON E. CONDON, Primary Examiner.

I. M. CASKIE, Assistant Examiner. 

1. IN COMBINATION, A PAIR OF SHOES AND AN INSERT THEREFOR FOR DISPLAYING SAID SHOES IN SIDE BY SIDE RELATIONSHIP COMPRISING: A SINGLE PIECE OF STIFF, SHEET MATERIAL HAVING A PAIR OF LATERALLY SPACED SUBSTANTIALLY SYMMETRICAL SHOEENGAGING PANELS, SAID MATERIAL PIECE HAVING A LONGITUDINAL DIVERGING SLOT PARTIALLY ISOLATING SAID PANELS; EACH OF SAID SHOES HAVING A FRONT FOOT-ENGAGING PORTION AND BEING COOPERATIVELY RECEIVED BY ONE OF SAID SHOE-ENGAGING PANELS WITH THE FRONT PORTION OF EACH OF SAID SHOES SLIDABLY EXTENDING WITHIN SAID SLOT TO STRETCH SAID SHOE AND ASSIST IN RETAINING SAID SHOE IN A STRETCHED POSITION FOR DISPLAY. 